Shincho Library has selected fourteen prints from past CWAJ Print Shows to honor the 50th anniversary of Kawabata Yasunari’s death. Kawabata received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968.

In this special exhibition, the fourteen original prints that were used on the covers of new editions of Kawabata’s books will be displayed along with the Shincho Library books.

[From the magazine Nami April 2022 issue]

“In honor of the 50th anniversary of the death of Kawabata Yasunari, from the end of March through June of this year, starting with Snow Country, Shincho Library will be re–releasing thirteen of Kawabata’s works with new covers. Additionally, Shincho Library will be publishing Kawabata’s Boy in paperback for the first time, for a total of fourteen original book covers.

All of the new covers will feature print artwork (hanga). The prints that Shincho Library selected for the covers were displayed at the CWAJ Print Show, an annual exhibition that introduces modern Japanese print artwork to domestic and foreign audiences. The quiet beauty of the Fushimi Inari Shrine and the nostalgic rural roads depicted in the prints perfectly complement the beauty and warmth of Kawabata’s literature. These prints, which are highly valued the world over, will breathe new life into Kawabata’s internationally acclaimed and widely–read works.”